Why have Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak got it in for solar panels on farmland?

Is this just more soundbite politics from the two Conservative leadership contestants, asks Chris Stevenson

The Green Alliance says land used for solar farms could also be used for crops (PA)

It is one topic that the two Conservative leadership contestants appear to agree on – they would rather not have solar panels on UK farmland.

“On my watch, we will not lose swathes of our best farmland to solar farms. Instead, we should be making sure that solar panels are installed on commercial buildings, on sheds and on properties,” Rishi Sunak, who is heading for defeat in the contest, has said. It follows similar comments from Truss: “Our fields should be filled with our fantastic produce – whether it’s the great livestock, the great arable farms". She has also referred to solar panels as “paraphernalia”.

As has been reported by my colleague Harry Cockburn, highlighting research from the Green Alliance think tank, 77 times more arable land is used for biofuel production – which makes up about 10 per cent of every litre of petrol pumped into UK vehicles – than solar energy. And solar farms take up just 1,400 hectares compared to the 108,000 used for biofuel production. The Green Alliance has called biofuel for cars a “zombie policy”.

Siding with British farmers certainly plays well with the Tory “selectorate” who will decide the next Tory leader, and the country's next prime minister. It is tough to argue against the country’s farmers receiving support – and some of the Brexit deals negotiated by the government, including Truss, have been less than helpful on that front. Land use is another issue that Tory voters, particularly in the South, tend to care about.

However, I'm not sure that solar panels are the correct target for their ire. A recent YouTube poll on behalf of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit think tank proved illuminating. It surveyed 800 people representative of Conservative Party members and found that 73 per cent backed solar parks and panels.

For farmers, there is even the potential to grow crops beneath solar panels, a method known as agrivoltaics. The panels can provide shade for growing crops, help soil to retain moisture, and boost plant growth – although the technique is still in its infancy.

Some will dismiss Truss and Sunak’s solar power comments as soundbites rather than sound policy.